Rand and the lottery

A few years ago, as then-Gov. Mike Easley pushed for a state lottery, Sen. Tony Rand was his chief legislative champion.

As the lottery finally passed in 2005, Rand also took the lead in determining how the money would make its way from ticket sales to schools.

Rand, D-Cumberland, secured a provision in the state budget that distributed money for school construction in part based on local property taxes, which gave more to school systems concentrated in eastern and central N.C.

"I thought he was responsible for cutting out the lottery money for the western part of the state," said Sen. John Snow, D-Cherokee.

"We didn’t have the opportunity to have a discussion over it until it was done."

Snow and other legislators have been trying to change the distribution ever since, with some temporary successes. Rand's departure makes their job easier.

Capital Letters

Jordan Schrader covers North Carolina government for the Asheville Citizen-Times. In this blog, he'll bring you news as it breaks and comment about how moves in Raleigh affect Western North Carolina. Let Jordan know what he's missed by e-mailing jschrade@CITIZEN-TIMES.com or commenting on the blog.